Chapter 197 Life is like a mustard

Almost half of the shed, which was about to be completed, burned to the ground. On the charred ruins, wisps of green smoke still bubbled from some places.

When Qiu Chen arrived at the workshop site by car, he saw such a scene, a tragic scene that could only be seen on TV and movies before. Zhishu followed closely behind Qiu Chen, his eyes were scorched, and his nose was full of strong special scorching smell that seemed to be indissolvable......

Qiu Chen straightened his waist, tried to level his shoulders, and walked forward step by step. It's just that her pale face and clenched hands reveal the same tension and ...... in her heart Astound!

Yes, she had no fear, only shock and mourning!

Hearing the news, the imaginary scene, absolutely can't compare with what she saw with her own eyes, the shock brought by what she felt in person, she didn't see this large area of scorched black with her own eyes, she didn't breathe the air full of pungent scorching smell, she inevitably had a trace of luck in her heart, luckily hoped that the news was wrong, and luckily hoped that it was not so tragic!

Finally, I walked to the place where the entrance of the original workshop was, and when I looked at it from this side, I found that in the scorched black, there was a house that had not completely collapsed and burned down, and more than half of it remained.

This house was built by the workers for a temporary rest, and it was made of green bricks, which is not very flammable...... Come to think of it, it is precisely because of this that this house survived.

Daxing was busy with Shunzi in an open space in front of the house, and when he saw Qiu Chen coming over, he hurriedly pulled out to meet him.

"Madame......" Even Daxing couldn't help but reddened when he saw Qiu Chen. After screaming, his throat was blocked and he couldn't make a sound for a while.

Qiu Chen nodded, trying to calm his emotions, his footsteps did not stop, and he spoke: "Have you counted the number of people?" ”

Daxing followed Qiu Chen's pace, and at this time he also relieved his strength, and replied: "Yes, a total of forty-eight dead bodies have been found, and twenty-two people are missing, and the rest are here." The little one has already sent someone to invite Lang Zhong, and he should be able to rush back soon. ”

"Well," Qiu Chen responded, and then asked, "Is there anything else to eat here?" ”

When the words came out, her gaze had already swept over the kitchen that had been completely burned to ruins, her eyes darkened suddenly, and then she instructed Zhishu: "You take a few people back to the city and buy some ready-made food first." ”

After instructing Zhishu, he handed him two ingots of silver, and then turned back to Daxing and said, "Look at it, pick a few people to go with him!" ”

Qiu Chen had already seen it just now, and many people were frightened, huddled there, or stunned, or hugged their heads and cried, and only thirty or forty people were rummaging through the ruins and searching...... The people who Qiu Chen said can only come out of these people.

Daxing promised to go with Zhishu, and Qiu Chen continued to walk in alone. She had seen seven or eight women huddled together, huddled in the corners and shivering, and in front of them, a few broken bedding and a few people wrapped in them, resting on the dirt floor in the open air.

"Husband, madam......" A woman stood up from the crowd, it was Chen.

Qiu Chen stepped forward, held Chen, who was trembling like tears falling like rain, patted her hands, took a handkerchief to wipe her tears, and said with relief: "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, it's all over!" ”

Chen sobbed, wiping away tears, trying to calm down. Qiu Chen had already leaned over to look at the two people wrapped in the quilt.

There were two cooks wrapped in the quilt, Qiu Chen couldn't even call the names of the two people, and she was a little relieved that the two cooks were only injured, and their lives were finally saved.

Putting down the medicine box he was carrying, Qiu Chen began to instruct Chen and the other two relatively calm women: "Calm down, go and get a basin of clean water first!" ”

Chen took the two women in a hurry, because of the night's fright, the three of them were a little weak, they walked staggeringly, their left leg tripped over their right leg, and they almost fell down several times, but fortunately, the three of them supported each other and walked away slowly.

Qiu Chen didn't pay too much attention to the three people, and only tried his best to soften his voice and ask the two injured women. The two were terrified, their teeth chattering, and they could barely speak. Qiu Chen lifted the quilt and checked it himself. In a short time, she could see the extent of the injuries of the two women, neither of them too serious, one of whom had been slashed in the arm, and the other had broken his leg......

Qiu Chen, who had a broken leg, had no choice, she couldn't straighten her bones, so she could only comfort a few words, and after the three of the Chen family came back with water, they rinsed the wound of the woman with the knife wound and bandaged it with medicine.

After settling the two women, Qiu Chen followed Daxing to the place where the male workers gathered. The corpses were densely laid on the ground, all kinds of miserable and difficult books, Qiu Chen didn't pay too much attention to these, her eyes were always focused on the living.

She didn't comfort them one by one, chose a place where the relative crowd was relatively concentrated and stood still, cleared her uncomfortable throat, and said loudly: "What happened last night has happened, but it has also passed, and those who can survive are people with great fate, as the saying goes, if you don't die, there will be a blessing in the future." Everyone is steady, and if you are injured, Lang Zhong will come to treat you soon. If you are not injured, you will help the wounded around you to heal, and you will help these unfortunate brothers to collect the burials later. I also need to inform their families...... Although we didn't expect this kind of thing, and we also suffered huge losses, we can rest assured, we will never let it go. We will bear the funeral of the dead, the deceased is the greatest, and the burial is peaceful, so we will first collect them and bury them, and then settle their families one by one......"

Listening to the sad female voice hidden in the calm, people's nervous and fearful emotions calmed down a little. The already calmer people continued to clean up the rubble, looking for possible living people, or those who had died. Some of the people who were dazed and even crying just now also tried to stabilize their emotions and helped Qiu Chen and the few women led by the Chen family to check the injuries of the injured and clean and bandage their wounds.

Busy, Xu Qianzhi hurriedly rushed back with two Lang Zhong. Behind them, there were about twenty more sturdy men.

As soon as he got off the horse, Xu Qianzhi noticed that the situation was different from when he left before, and when he saw the woman squatting among several injured people, who was concentrating on cleaning and bandaging the wounds of the injured, he was slightly stunned at first, and then a wave of admiration rose from the bottom of his heart.

A weak female streamer, in the midst of a scorched black stench, with dozens of corpses next to her, was not frightened, but was able to handle affairs so calmly, and even cleaned and bandaged the wounds of the injured with her own hands...... This is really the only one he has seen at such an old age. It can be said that this woman, who does not seem to be too outstanding, has repeatedly broken his decades of cognition!

"Madam, Steward Xu invited Lang Zhong here!" Daxing reminded Qiu Chen, who was bandaging the wounds of the injured, in a low voice.

Qiu Chen nodded, and his subordinates quickly bandaged the wound of an injured person, and then got up and looked back at Xu Qianzhi and the two Lang Zhong who were walking over. To her slight surprise, the two Lang Zhong couldn't help but be young, probably less than thirty years old, and they were also dressed in rich and noble clothes, although they were both wearing plain robes, but the good cocoon silk fabric could not be faked. Moreover, there was an illusion for a moment, and these two people gave Qiu Chen a sense of déjà vu.

However, in this case, Qiu Chen didn't pay too much attention to these two Lang Zhong, and after a moment of surprise, he turned to look at the twenty or so men who followed behind Xu Qianzhi.

Xu Qianzhi secretly praised Qiu Chen's calmness, and naturally became a little respectful in his demeanor, and bowed to Qiu Chen: "Madam, these people are called from the dock by Xiao Ke, and with them coming, the clean-up work can be faster." ”

Qiu Chen nodded, "Steward Xu is very thoughtful, so they will be assigned by Steward Xu!" ”

Xu Qianzhi nodded, explained the two Lang Zhong, and then led the twenty or so men to go directly to the ruins to check and search. The two dozen or so missing people may have been buried in the rubble, or they may have escaped...... But now they are short on manpower, so they can only do their best to clear the rubble first, and make sure that there is no more people here.

The clean-up work over there was handed over to Xu Qianzhi, and Qiu Chen was no longer distracted, turned his attention back to the two Lang Zhong bent his knees slightly, and said calmly: "Two gentlemen of labor, please come with me!" ”

As he spoke, he led the two Lang Zhong to avoid the corpses, and at the same time introduced the situation of the injured to the two Lang Zhong.

Walking up to the wounded, Qiu Chen also introduced the situation of the injured, and watched the two Lang Zhong check the situation of the injured at the same time, before she turned around and explained to Daxing, who came up: "Go buy coffins for these first, don't be greedy, the materials are ...... You look at it, you can't make people feel too chilled. ”

Daxing nodded in response, and Qiu Chen said again: "There are also clothes, try to collect them, don't be too good, but try to be the same, don't have too much difference." ”

Daxing responded again, repeated Qiu Chen's instructions, and hurried away.

Daxing had just left here, and Zhishu over there rushed back with a few people in two carriages, which were loaded with several large baskets of steamed buns, steamed buns and other food. Qiu Chen beckoned Xu Qianzhi and asked him to take people to transfer the people who were still unable to move to the open space on the other side, and then transferred the injured who had treated their wounds to the other side.

Everything unfolded in a tense and orderly manner, and Daxing soon returned with more than forty thin coffins and dozens of sets of clothes, and those who were not injured gradually calmed down and joined in the work of convergence. By early noon, the dozens of corpses had all converged. The two Lang Zhong also treated all the wounded, the bandaging of the bandage, the bone of the bone. It's just that after cleaning up all morning, only two cold corpses were picked up, and no living people were found. This situation inevitably made everyone's mood a lot lower.

When Qiu Chen sent people to hire a car from a carriage and horse shop to send the wounded and dead home, a team of officials and a pair of soldiers appeared out of nowhere and blocked the way of the convoy.

Qiu Chen was leading seven women to cook lunch for everyone on the simple stove, and Zhishu flew back to report the news. Qiu Chen was stunned and asked, "Do you recognize, which yamen is from?" Where do the soldiers belong? ”

Zhishu shook his head: "The officials haven't seen it, it should be from Anyang County." On the soldier's side, the little one is not familiar with ......"

Qiu Chen's pupils shrank slightly, and he nodded: "Well, I know it." Let's go, let's take a look! ”

After taking two steps, Qiu Chen turned back and asked, "Do you want to take a break?" ”

Zhishu was still a little undecided, but he shook his head without hesitation, saying that he had nothing to do, and Qiu Chen really needed him to give him a long look, so he was not reluctant.

After walking about 300 meters, almost at the end of the bluestone road built by the workshop, Qiu Chen saw more than a dozen carriages pulling the wounded, which were stopped in the middle of the road, and a team of officials and a team of soldiers stood in the front row of the carriages. The officials were relaxed, and one of the head catchers in soap suits was whispering something to Xu Qianzhi. However, there was a row of soldiers in the back, all wearing leather armor and holding spears, standing in a row, quite solemn and majestic.

Qiu Chen's gaze swept over the tips of the row of guns that shone with cold light, and his lips pursed slightly. She could see it clearly, the wounds of the wounded were all knife wounds, and the soldiers at this time were spears with water, how did she look at it, how did she feel that there was some deliberate taste in it. She clearly remembered that the standard weapons of the garrisons in various provinces were not only spears, but also waist knives...... At this time, I didn't see a single person equipped.

Walking over, Qiu Chen ignored the unscrupulous gazes of those officials sweeping over her, but went straight to Xu Qiandao: "Steward Xu's ......"

Xu Qianzhi said hello to the head catcher, took a few steps back, and came to Qiu Chen's side.

"Isn't it incommendable?" Qiu Chen asked bluntly.

Xu Qianzhi's eyes darkened, and he lowered his voice and said: "It's the head catcher of the county government, and I am familiar with it on weekdays, but it's a big matter today, and the Lord of Futai will give an order together with the commander of the office, and the relevant people are not allowed to leave without permission." ”

Qiu Chen was not surprised by this answer, and continued to ask: "Then Steward Xu didn't ask, can other people still enter the city?" We're burning like this here, and we don't even have a shelter from the wind, so it's better to send someone into the city and buy some bedding and tents and stuff like that, and the rest...... Regardless, the wounded have to be housed. ”

Xu Qianzhi lowered his head, "I'll ask again." I didn't stop entering the city before, and I don't think I would stop people who didn't have anything to do with it. ”

Saying that, Xu Qianzhi walked to the catcher again, led the catcher to the side for two steps, and whispered a few words, Qiu Chen was separated by a distance, only to see Xu Qianzhi arching his hand to the catcher, and turned back: "It's done, you can send a few fewer people to buy things." But not for too long! ”

Qiu Chen nodded, discussed with Xu Qianzhi, and led the convoy back to the ruins. and immediately sent Daxing and Zhishu together to bring two people into the city to buy grain, oilcloth, felt, straw, charcoal, bedding and other materials.

Xu Qianzhi led people to temporarily stop the carriage at the leeward place, and brought simple food for the wounded to eat. The other workers and the dock workers brought by Xu Qianzhi also gathered together for a simple but hot lunch. Qiu Chen thought about it, and still asked Xu Qianzhi to go over and invite those officials and soldiers, but maybe it was because people were worried that they were guarding the corpse to eat here, and no one came.

In less than an hour, Daxing and Zhishu came back with two carts of things. There is no shortage of green bricks on the construction site, and some purlins have not been burned, and they have bought straw and other things back.

Everyone was busy, and soon more than a dozen simple shacks were erected. Qiu Chen and seven women laid some simple straw bunks and mattresses in the hut with straw, and the workers temporarily moved the wounded to these improvised bunks. Fortunately, charcoal pots were raised in the shacks, and the simple shacks were baked hot, which was much better than in the wind outside.

The wounded were housed and there was a simple place to hide, and the surviving workers were unconsciously calmed down a lot. When I went to clean up the rubble in the afternoon, there was no one to hide, and although no one spoke, it was evident from the tense faces that these people wanted to save a few lives more than anyone else.

Zhishu gave Qiu Chen a look, the two avoided people slightly, and Zhishu said in a low voice: "The little one went to the mansion to ask, and the order not to let the relevant people leave without permission was indeed jointly agreed upon by the lord of the mansion and the commander." It is said that it is because he is afraid that there are remnants of water bandits, and he needs to check the people one by one before he can be released. ”

Qiu Chen nodded and told Zhishu: "If you have a chance to go back to the city in the afternoon, you can go back and ask." Zhishu answered, walked away and followed Daxing busily.

Qiu Chen didn't believe in the excuse of the remnants of the water bandits. Not to mention that those people just blocked and didn't let them leave, and they didn't even go through the scenes of the investigation, even if they pretended to be investigated, they couldn't explain anything. According to her guess, it is very likely that the Yun Governor and Hu Yanxun did not reach an agreement on the aftermath of the water bandits, so in order to prevent the situation from expanding out of control, they issued an order to block the entry and exit of people.

In the silence and oppressive atmosphere, an afternoon slowly passed, and four more corpses were cleared out of the ruins.

When night fell, things took a turn for the worse.

The head catcher who was familiar with Xu Qianzhi followed a small capital head to deliver the news that the yamen and the military had allowed the body to be sent back. Others remained where they were.

Qiu Chen wanted to scold, not to mention why the bandits would inexplicably impact several villages and a workshop that was still under construction, but said that they were obviously injured people, but instead of receiving emergency assistance from the yamen, they were ignored for most of the day, and their freedom of access was restricted. Which rule is this, which principle is this?

But her instincts and reason told her that at this time, she could not move.

The first priority is to first try to accommodate the dead and wounded workers, and then send people to the homes of the missing people to verify whether they have returned home.

After getting the order, Qiu Chen hurriedly discussed with Xu Qianzhi and Daxing, and after dividing the labor, Xu Qianzhi sent someone to inquire about the missing person's home, and Xu Qianzhi and Daxing sent people home respectively.

Qiu Chen took out a small box he had brought with him, and inside was a neatly arranged silver ingot, ten taels each. According to Qiu Chen's original intention, fifty taels of pension silver were issued to each deceased worker. But Xu Qianzhi and Daxing unanimously objected, and the last three of them negotiated and determined that it was twenty taels. And with a condition, if there are people in the family of the deceased workers who can go out to work, each family will make an exception and recruit one to come to work. If there is no one in the family who can replace the worker, each family will be given two taels of silver every year for a period of ten years.

Watching more than a dozen carriages dragging a mouthful of thin coffins slowly disappearing into the twilight, Qiu Chen stood there for a long time without moving.

With those twenty taels of silver, and then a person who replaces the worker, or receives a subsidy of two taels of silver, although those families have lost their relatives, they will not lose their source of livelihood and can always live.

At dinner, Qiu Chen asked Zhishu to announce the bereavement plan for the dead to the living workers. For the injured, they will be given one month to three months of injury leave according to the injury, and during the injury leave, each person will be given 500 yuan for living expenses, and when the injury recovery leave is completed, these people can return to work.

Yes, Qiu Chen never thought that her workshop would not be opened. She doesn't care what others do, she at least has confidence in herself.

A whole day has passed, and the ruins have basically been pulled up, and the places that have not been picked up are also places where people cannot be saved. No living people were found, but no dead people were found, which means that the remaining dozen or so missing people are likely still alive, but they may have returned home or fled somewhere. The crowd can only comfort themselves in this way.

The two injured cooks had been properly treated, and the remaining seven cooks were also relieved a lot, and dinner was served on time in an orderly manner, but the workers, who had been frightened the night before and had worked hard all day, after dinner, squeezed into several makeshift sheds, wrapped in clothes and pulled quilts and fell asleep.

Qiu Chen went into the kitchen and took a look, Xu Qianzhi went to the workers' sheds to take a look, and after the last time, the two of them, together with Daxing and Zhishu, gathered in a separate shed, and discussed while roasting the fire.

The workers were so nervous and exhausted that they could no longer be on guard. After discussing with Xu Qianzhi, Qiu Chen decided to let the workers on the dock arrange shifts and be responsible for the night vigilance, and Xu Qianzhi took the initiative to ask to stay on duty. Daxing then took the initiative to stay.

After the last, Zhishu followed Qiu Chen back to the city.

Xu Qianzhi went to find the head catcher again and brought back a slightly more relaxed message that the women were allowed to return to the city.

So, Zhishu and Junko drove two carriages and carried ten women back to the city together.

Returning to the quiet and peaceful forest house and soaking in the wide bathtub, Qiu Chen seemed to come back to life. After a busy day in that hellish place during the day, and a day with dozens of corpses, I returned to this quiet and peaceful place to realize the beauty of a peaceful life.

No wonder there is a saying that 'I would rather be a dog in a prosperous world than a person in a troubled world'!

Just looking at the actions of the yamen before, those villagers and the workers in her workshop were dead and injured, and they really died in vain without even asking...... This world is really a cannibalistic world!

After this incident, she really saw the cruelty and coldness of this world. Human life is as cheap as mustard, probably so!

After soaking until the water was a little cold, Qiu Chen climbed out of the bathtub, dried his body and walked out in a comfortable home cotton clothes, and asked Qingxing to dry her hair, pull her hair back into a bun, and take Qingxing to the inverted building of Sanjin Courtyard. The ten cooks brought back were temporarily placed in the inverted building of Sanjin.

There was a fire in the room, and as soon as I entered the door, I felt a warm feeling. The women were also groomed and dressed in clean cotton clothes. The cotton clothes were made up by Qiu Chenqingxing and a few people from the Shunzi family, there were fine cotton and cocoons, and they didn't fit well, but they were much better than the dirty and messy appearance before.

Qiu Chen first checked the two injured women, and saw that the two were in good condition, and they had fallen asleep on the warm kang.

She didn't bother the two of them, only comforted the other people a few words, gave Chen a look, and took her back to her room.

Qiu Chen sat on the kang and beckoned to Chen, "You can sit too." ”

Chen bowed his knees and sat sideways with his butt on the edge of the kang.

Chunxiang brought two bowls of oil tea up, and Qiu Chen pushed a bowl to Chen: "I see that you eat less for dinner, so let's make up for it." Don't worry about them, they've already been sent. ”

Chen thanked him nervously, picked up the spoon and stirred the oil tea and ate it slowly, and soon a bowl of oil tea was eaten, Chen raised his head and saw that the bowl in front of Qiu Chen had not moved, and he blushed and said, "The little woman is used to doing work, and the amount of food is ......."

"Hehe, being able to eat and be able to do it means that you are in good health, and there is nothing bad about it. I wouldn't have eaten at night......" he said, pushing the oil tea in front of him to Chen, "Let's eat this bowl too!" ”

Chen Shi looked at Qiu Chen, his lips moved, and finally thanked him and continued to eat.

Qiu Chen waited silently for her to finish eating, and Chunxiang brought tea and a cup to Chen.

Qiu Chen took the tea, took a sip gently, and slowly spoke: "Tell me, what happened last night?" ”

Chen Shi answered and spoke: "Last night, it was my turn to meet Xiao Wang. Because it was cold, I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to make a face, so I got up in the middle of the night to add fire to the stove. I didn't want to hear something wrong, so I peeked through the crack in the door and happened to see many people rushing into the nearby shed in the dark...... Soon, there was a cry from the room...... The cry was very permeating, and there was no human voice at all...... I was terrified, but I knew that I had to run for my life, and no one would come to save you at this time......"

Speaking of this, Chen hung his head and paused, and after a while, he raised his eyes to look at Qiu Chen and said: "Madam, I, the slave maid concealed her background before, and the slave maid is a good person from Anyang Mansion, but she married ten years ago to Mahui Town, which is a town close to the northern Xinjiang. Last fall, a gang of horse bandits stormed our town, and less than ten of us escaped. My man, my two children, and my parents-in-law were all killed by horse bandits that night. I also escaped because the sheep in the family were lost, and I went to the grass behind the house to look for the sheep......"

As he spoke, tears flowed down Chen's face indiscriminately.

She choked her throat and whimpered in a low voice twice, then she wiped away her tears and continued: "Last night, when I saw those people rushing into the nearby shed, I knew that the road was broken, and I hurriedly ran back to call the sisters in the house, and before everyone had time to get dressed, they ran into the kitchen through the back door...... A few days ago, I built a fort with green bricks and mud to store vegetables, and I took my sisters to hide in it, but I didn't dare to really hide in it and not move. The fort was connected to the house, and it couldn't be hidden for long. Fortunately, there were two movable adobe blocks behind the fort, and we crawled out of them again to keep running out of the ditch behind us. There are a lot of trees in that big ditch, lying in it and not moving, it is not easy to find...... When Wang reached the edge of the ditch, he fell, and when he made a sound, he brought a man in...... Fortunately, there was a man who came, I was carrying a kitchen knife in my hand, so I rushed up and slashed for a while, and two people with rolling pins and burning sticks also pounced...... Jin Feng went up with a burning stick at that time, and only then was he injured in the arm......"

Qiu Chen didn't interrupt her, and let her stumble and narrate, until Chen stopped, Qiu Chen asked, "Then did you see, what happened to those bandits by those officers and soldiers?" Is it killed? ”

Chen raised his eyes and looked at Qiu Chen, still with a palpitating and fearful expression on her face, which made her eyes a little out of focus, and after a while, Chen shook his head and said, "No, the slaves and maids ran to the ditch behind the house, and they didn't see the situation in the yard, but the person who was cut by us was not killed, but was caught by the officers and soldiers and taken away......"

Caught and taken away?

The news from the book is obviously that the officers and soldiers are brave and invincible, and they arrived in time to kill the bandits! And it was to kill more than 100 people!

A cold breath surged up from the bottom of Qiu Chen's heart, making her hands and feet cold in an instant, but a layer of cold sweat suddenly broke out on her back!

After a while, Qiu Chen relieved himself, tried to calm his emotions, comforted Chen a few words, and asked Chunxiang to send her back.

At night, Qiu Chen slept very unsteadily, and for a while dreamed that she was being chased and killed, and in the firelight, she couldn't see the murderer's face clearly, but she could clearly feel that the cold blade was close at hand, and it might cut her body in the next breath......

As she ran, she suddenly thought of Afu Aman, where were her children? Anxious, worried, and fearful, layers of deep enveloping her, she was finally awakened from her dream, and a cold sweat almost soaked her clothes.

Lying in the quilt for a while, before calming down a little, Qiu Chen got up and changed into dry clothes, and then lay down again.

But not long after falling asleep, she was awakened by a nightmare again...... This went on and over again until the sky brightened, and the exhausted Qiu Chen simply stopped sleeping and got up directly.

Qingxing and Chunxiang hadn't gotten up yet, Qiu Chen didn't call anyone, he sat silently on the kang, letting his tired brain empty and being stunned for a while. Qingxing and Chunxiang came over and saw her sitting on the kang, even the bedding was neatly packed, and they were slightly taken aback, Qingxing was concerned: "Madame, is there something wrong with getting up early?" It's the slave who sleeps dead......"

Qiu Chen came back to his senses, waved his hand and said, "Okay, I don't blame you!" Prepare me hot water, I want to bathe! ”

In the past, Qiu Chen only liked to take a bath at night, and he never bathed in the morning...... The two girls were puzzled, but they didn't dare to ask more, so they tiptoed back, Chunxiang went to the kitchen to ask for water, and Qingxing came in with a bowl of bird's nest stewed on the stove.

Qiu Chen ate the bird's nest bite by bite, and the hot water was prepared. Qiu Chen didn't soak for too long this time, hurriedly washed off the cold sweat stains on his body, changed into a thick cotton coat, and put on a gray squirrel skin jacket, and didn't eat breakfast, so he hurriedly took Chen and seven other uninjured cooks out of the city.

Zhishu was already waiting at the gate, watching Qiu Chen come out, he hurriedly jumped into Qiu Chen's carriage, and made a return to Qiu Chen on the way. There is also news that the more than 100 water bandits who have been killed will be hung on the city gate for ten days to set an example.

The coldness once again came up from the bottom of my heart and spread to my whole body......

Qiu Chen closed his eyes, and it took a while to recover his strength, nodded, and said to Zhishu: "We can't control those things, let's go over today, or send the injured person home first...... For the rest, it's better to take a few days off......"

Zhishu didn't dare to talk about such a thing, but only listened silently on the sidelines.

After arriving at the workshop, Qiu Chen told Xu Qianzhi and Daxing the news, and discussed with the two of them about giving the workers and craftsmen a holiday......

Xu Qianzhi and Daxing did not approve of the holiday, Xu Qianzhi said: "Madam, it is not because we are hard-hearted, it is really because of this moment to send people home, it is better to hire more people, clean up this side as soon as possible, and invite a few monks to recite a few volumes of the Dizang Sutra, overkill, to go to the evil spirit." Then, build the workshop as soon as possible...... If it drags on, this place will really become a dead place, and no one will dare to come again. ”

Qiu Chen knew that what Xu Qianzhi said was very reasonable, she closed her eyes, and finally followed her reason and agreed.

After making a plan, the officials and soldiers withdrew again, and there was no limit, and Xu Qianzhi soon brought another hundred and ten strong laborers. Daxing then ran to the Iron Tower Temple to invite a few monks, sat in front of the ruins and recited a scripture, and sent the incense, candles, paper horses, and more than 200 young people to do it together, and when it was dark, the whole ruins had been cleaned up again.

When Qiu Chen went to see it again the next day, the construction site had already restarted, and except for the remaining black gray stains on the soil, it was no longer obvious that it was a hell on earth a day ago.

What made her a little uncomfortable was that none of the families of the dead workers and the injured had any objections, which was a world away from the situation she was used to seeing in modern times when the families of the deceased demanded huge amounts of compensation. One life, plus the subsidy for the next ten years, is only forty taels of silver......

When she heard the workers gossiping after dinner: "...... If you can take forty taels of silver, those people will be blind when they die......"

She had an epiphany. Forty taels of silver, for these ordinary dealers, is undoubtedly a huge amount of money!

She couldn't help but ask herself, is she holding her mouth with silver?

The construction of the workshop was restarted, but Qiu Chen was handed over to Xu Qianzhi's management, and she no longer ran to the construction site every day. Daxing was also sent by her to Nanmarsh Lake to help Yang Shuyong.

She asked Xu Qianzhi for the addresses of the dead workers, and sent Shunzi to visit the Chen family and Shunzi's family at the construction site one by one to understand the situation of those people. Most of the families have labor to work in the workshops, and some of them have received a subsidy of two taels of silver a year, so that their livelihood will not be cut off, but there are two families, one with only one woman with three young children, and the other with only one old woman over sixty years old.

Qiu Chen sent someone to discuss with these two families, and finally took the four of the mother and the old man to Nanmara Lake, the old man's body is quite strong, he can help light the fire, feed the chickens or something, the woman is also a neat one, just to be a companion with the Zhou family, and give the workers Zhang Luo food, which can be regarded as a dependence.

Since the accident in the workshop, Zhishu has been handing over the news he heard almost every day.

Because of the bandits disturbing the people, Yun Zhifu and Hu Yanxun both went to the guilty plea, but because of the merit of suppressing the bandits, the merits and demerits were comparable, and the two of them did not even apply for punishment, and the incident of water bandits with countless deaths and injuries was wiped out so plainly.

After this incident, Qiu Chen felt that his understanding of this society was far from enough, so he asked Zhishu one day: "Is there any way to see the news related to the imperial court?" ”

To Qiu Chen's surprise, Zhishu nodded without hesitation: "Yes, there will be a kind of mansion copy in the yamen and in the family with an edict, and any personnel changes in the imperial court, any Mingfa excerpts and the like, will be copied, and every ten days, Mingfa will be everywhere." This kind of scroll that is distributed everywhere is the Di copy. ”

"If I want one, can I find one?" Qiu Chen was secretly happy in his heart, this is the ancient version of internal reference!

Zhishu nodded without hesitation: "It's easy to find, there are copies of every issue of our son's study, Mrs. wants to see it, and the small one will be brought to you directly!" ”

Hearing that it was something from Yun Jichen's study, Qiu Chen couldn't help but say: "Bring it to me, wouldn't it be inconvenient for your son to see it?" ”

Zhishu shook his head indifferently and said: "There will be several copies of each issue in the mansion, and there are all in the study of the master and the eldest young master." If our eldest young master is not at home, no one will look at that share, so the little one will go back and say, just send the eldest young master's share to our son-in-law. ”

Hearing that he said it easily, not like reluctantly, Qiu Chen smiled and thanked him, and asked again, "Has your sister's body improved?" ”

Hearing Qiu Chen ask about his sister, Zhishu immediately felt relieved, and said again and again: "Thanks to my wife's blessing, my sister-in-law is much better, she always loves to get sick at the beginning of spring every year, and sometimes she can't breathe." I didn't commit any crimes this year, and I still want to come out and walk around these days! ”

Qiu Chen had heard Zhishu talk about his sister's condition, and according to Zhishu, his sister should have allergic asthma, and the only cure for this disease was to eliminate allergens...... Asthma is prone to frequent attacks in spring, firstly, because the spring air rises, which is easy to evoke the onset of old diseases; Second, in spring, flowers are in full bloom, and all kinds of pollen and fly fly everywhere, which also increases allergens and induces diseases.

After thinking about it for a while, Qiu Chen said: "Zhishu, I have read about your sister's illness from medical books, this disease is because of contact or inhalation of something, it will trigger the attack. You say that your sister is sick in the spring, so you go home and tell your family to pay attention to it, your sister will get sick after touching or inhaling something, and remove the things that caused your sister's old illness, and your sister's illness will not be easy to attack in the future. Based on your description, my guess is that your sister is most likely the pollen in the flowers, or something like catkins that can hook old diseases...... You ask the family to pay attention to see if any flowers are blooming in your house or in your neighbor's house, and your sister's illness will attack......"

Zhishu listened motionlessly, blinking his eyes, and he couldn't wait to write down every word Qiu Chen said. After Qiu Chen finished speaking, Zhishu didn't say a word, he fell to the ground and kowtowed to Qiu Chen, got up, and said with a smile: "Thank you so much for your guidance, if the little sister goes to the root of the disease, the little sister must let the sister come over and kowtow to you!" ”

Qiu Chen waved his hand with a smile: "That's it, it's not that you don't know that I don't care about this, so don't mess around and toss your sister." ”

After the banditry incident, the workshop was scheduled to be completed and put into operation in mid-February, and it was not completed until the end of February.

Without waiting for the workshop to be built and put into production, Qiu Chen hurriedly set off to return to Liujiaao on February 20. Not for anything else, just because Lin Xu is about to take the government exam, on February 28.

Qiu Chen took Qingxing and Chunxiang, and Shunzi drove to Anping County first, went to the county school to pick up Lin Xu, and then went back to Liujiaao together.

At the end of February, spring returns to the earth, and as far as the eye can see, the fields are already a tender green that seems to be nothing. The stream, which had been frozen for a winter, flowed again. Even the children were like animals waking up from hibernation, tossing and frolicking on the slopes of the mountains, and although they were out to dig vegetables, the baskets and sickles were thrown into a corner, until it was getting dark, and they had had enough of playing, so they found their baskets and sickles, hurriedly dug up a few handfuls of wild vegetables, and carried them home.

Compared with these, Liu Jiaao's Lin family has almost no change from when Qiu Chen left, the workshop is still busy and orderly, and the people in the Lin family's courtyard are also busy with their own work.

When Qiu Chen left, he set a date for his return with his family, so early in the morning, the Daxing family took Jia and Xiaoxi to prepare, thinking about cooking a few favorite dishes for his wife. Yufeng also took the two little girls and took Qiu Chen's bedding out to dry, as well as Qiu Chen's clothes and supplies, which were also taken out of the cabinet early in the morning and put in their proper places.

Because they went to the county school, the uncle and sister-in-law also had lunch in Anping County, and when they rushed back to Liujiaao, it was already twilight.

On the rooftops of houses, smoke curls up into the clear sky, and the small village in the twilight is filled with an intoxicating smell of fireworks.

Customarily, as soon as the Lin family's carriage entered the village, it was surrounded by a group of Tao boys, unlike before, this time Qiu Chen gave the children not sugar, but a package of champion cakes and a bag of trough cakes! Take a champion and the first and step by step to climb a good lottery!